France wants biometric data from all travellers at EU borders, including EU nationals

First they demanded fingerprints of some non-EU nationals, but I said nothing…

France has called for EU-wide rules requiring all travellers, EU nationals included, to provide biometric data for border checks as they enter the Schengen area, which includes most of the European Union, but not the UK. France is looking at gathering biometric data (likely fingerprints or facial imagery) of everyone in the EU as one possible option.

The Euobserver site says the call was made at a meeting of EU interior ministers held in Luxembourg on 8 October. According to an official document published by Statewatch, the French idea is to extend an existing packet of measures known as Smart Borders: "The French delegation suggests broadening the scope of the 'Smart Borders' package for all travellers, also including European nationals." The claimed justification for this extension is that "increased external border controls... are essential to maintain the principle of free movement within the Schengen area in the absence of internal border controls."

As Euobserver explains: "Smart Borders is a two-tiered system of biometric scans of visiting non-EU nationals—the registered travellers programme (RTP) and the entry-exit system (EES). First proposed by the European Commission in 2013, it was temporarily shelved following concerns over its billion-euro price tag and law enforcement access." It is now the subject of a public consultation, open until October 29.

One of accompanying documents is the technical study, which explored three options for the biometrics: facial images only; facial images plus fingerprints; and no biometrics at all. It also notes: "an option is the mandatory enrolment of fingerprints following a given period." It's not clear whether the French proposal would require all EU nationals travelling within the Schengen area to provide their fingerprints to be held on an EU database, although the Euobserver reports suggests it would, but without citing a source for that.

Further Reading

Given that France is close to passing wide-ranging surveillance powers, it seems quite likely that it is, indeed, calling for mass fingerprinting. The justification, as ever, is terrorism: "Terrorist acts have served as a chilling reminder of the threats posed by certain European nationals or people with the right of free movement upon their return from terrorist areas," it wrote in the document obtained by Statewatch. The current refugee crisis may also increase calls to bring in tighter controls on all those entering the Schengen area.

Introducing biometric scanning and storage on this scale might be affected by the important judgement (PDF) by the Court of Justice of the European Union last year, which struck down the EU's data retention directive on the grounds that it was a "particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life." It is possible that France's proposed biometric border controls on all EU travellers would suffer the same fate if, as has been suggested, law enforcement authorities too would have access to its database.